Bathtub enclosure door holder



Dec. 21, 1965 H. J. WALTERS BATHTUB ENCLOSURE DOOR HOLDER Original Filed May 13, 1963 VENTO erer r/ld/ erf wf gwn/L ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,224,046 BATHTUB ENCLOSURE DOOR HOLDER Herbert J. Walters, Philadelphia, Pa.

Original application May 13, 1963, Ser. No. 279,873, now Patent No. 3,188,699, dated June 15, 1965. Divided and this application Mar. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 437,126

4 Claims. (Cl. Ztl- 19) This is a divisional application of my co-pending application entitled Pivoting Bathtub Enclosure, Serial Number 279,873, now United States Patent No. 3,188,699 issued June 15, 1965.

This invention relates in general to bathtub enclosures and more particularly is directed to a holder for pivoting and sliding type enclosure doors.

As has been previously stated in Patent Number 3,188,699, bathtub enclosure doors of the conventional horizontal sliding type seriously reduce the access opening to the tub inasmuch as conventional doors slide in separate tracks, .and when in the fully open position, one door is stopped immediately behind the other. Such an arrangement is generally satisfactory for most purposes inasmuch as easy entrance to the tub is provided by the open door. However, such a design is not acceptable when the bathtub is to be used by an invalid or by children so that supervision and help from persons outside of the tub will be required. Under such circumstances, it is apparent that the conventional sliding doors will seriously reduce the opening to the tub and thus interefere with easy access to the invalid or to the children using the facility.

By utilizing the pivoting type doors as disclosed in my previous application, I have shown a practical solution to the problem. However, once the doors have been pivoted and moved horizontally as far as possible to provide the required tub access, it is readily apparent that an adequate door holder or keeper must be furnished to retain the doors in their open position.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a noved bathtub enclosure door holder that incorporates features designed to retain pivoting type shower doors in the open position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel bathtub door holder that is compatible for use within a standard bathtub enclosure door master frame.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel bathtub door holder that features a unique, three-position locking system.

It is another object of my invention to provide a novel bathtub enclosure door holder that is simple in operation, inexpensive in manufacture and trouble-free upon installation.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be had by referring to the following description and claims of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. l is a front elevation view showing the general arrangement of a bathtub enclosure and doors.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a bathtub enclosure showing the doors in pivoted position.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of bathtub enclosure showing the sliding movement of the doors while in pivoted position.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a door holder in accordance with the instant invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross section taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 3.

Although specific terms are used in the following de- 3,224,046 Patented Dec. 2l, 1965 ICC scription for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of my invention selected for illustration in the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

As shown in FIG. l, a bathtub enclosure 10 is provided between the top 11 of the room side of a conventional bathtub 12 and the bottom 13 of the ceiling construction 14 which is immediately overhead. The enclosure 10 extends laterally between the tub enclosing walls 15, 16 to completely cover the opening. The usual door enclosing side masters 17, 18, a top master 19 and a bottom master 20 frame the opening above the tub and are conveniently secured to the room and tub construction to hang and guide the doors 21, 22 in any well-known, operable manner.

Each of the doors 21, 22 is similarly constructed with large panels 41, 42 of glass or clear sheet plastic material securely held in a peripheral aluminum frame 25. Each door frame includes a top 43, a bottom 44 and enclosing side members 45, 46 secured in a waterproof seal about the respective glass panels 21, 22. A towel bar 48 connects to the door frame members 45, 46 of the door 22 intermediate their ends in any well-known manner, such as by riveting, and projects horizontally outwardly towards the room. A second towel bar 49 connects to the door frame members 45, 46 of the door 21 intermediate their ends and projects horizontally inwardly towards the tub 12 so as to permit the sliding doors 21, 22 to pass each other upon operation.

As previously pointed out in my co-pending application, I have found it desirable to furnish the top door hangers 23, 24 fourteen inches in length and thus extending laterally seven inches on either side of the centrally positioned pivot pins 31, 32 in order to assure the greatest pivoted opening consistent with sturdy construction. Accordingly then, I prefer to furnish a lock bar which also has an effective length of seven inches in order Vto firmly support the doors 21, 22 in their respective pivoted positions by incorporating a two position positive support. Upon viewing FIGS. 1 and 3, it can be observed that as the door 21 is pivoted and moved horizontally, the outermost end 26 of the hanger 23 will move until it contacts the side master 17. Similarly, the outermost end 27 of the door hanger 24 will slide until contact with the side master 18 is made. The door holder 110 may then be pivoted to engage the towel bar 49 as shown in FIG. 4 to provide a second door restraint. By utilizing the cooperative forces of the door holder 110 on the towel bar 49 and the reaction between the door hanger 23 and the side master 17, a positive, firm, door holding action is provided. Similarly, by adding a second door holder 110 within the right side master 18, the right door 22 could likewise be secured to the side master 18 in a similar manner.

Referring now to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, I show a lock bar 110 hingedly connected to the side master 17 by a hinge pin 33. The lock bar may be formed from a length of channel-shaped aluminum having a web 34 and right and left flanges 35, 36 sized to fit within the flanges 113, 114 of the side master 17. As previously set forth, I preferably construct the lock bar 110 to have an effective length equal to one-half the length of the door hanger 23 in order to thereby provide a construction capable of restraining the door 21 at both the towel bar 49 and the door top 43 when in the open and pivoted position as indicated in FIG. 3.

When in operating position 111, the lock oar rests horizontally at an angle of ninety degrees from the vertically upright side master 17. When in closed position 112, the lock bar 110 drops vertically within the flanges 113, 114 to a position between the web 115 of side master 17 and the side glass frame 45 of the door 21 so as not to interfere with the normal operation of the doors 21, 22.

3 A pair of dual grooves 116, 117 and Si), S1 are spaced from the unhinged end 118 of the lock bar 110 and are machined through the lock bar anges 119, 120. The grooves 116, 117, Sil, 51 act in pairs to secure the door Z1 in pivoted position, spaced from the side master 17 by gripping the upper surface 121 of the towel bar 49.

As shown in FIG. 5, the door 21 may be locked in any of three pivoted positions by using various combinations of the dual pairs of grooves 116, 117, 50, 51. Thus, grooves 51, 117 cooperate to maintain the door 21 at right angles to the lock bar 110 and spaced from the side master 17. Grooves 116, 51 cooperate to maintain the door 21 at an acute angle to the lock bar 110 and spaced from the side master 17. Grooves 50i, 117 eooperate to maintain the door 21 at an obtuse angle to the, lock bar 110 and spaced from the side master 17.

If desired, a second lock bar 110 may similarly be hingedly connected to the opposite side master 1S to retain the door 22 in pivoted position, spaced from the side master 18. In such a manner, each door may be respectively locked to .a side master and be widely spaced from each other, thus providing ready access to the tub when so desired.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed:

1. In a door holder for a sliding and pivoting type bathtub enclosure door incorporating a horizontal towel bar and sliding within an enclosing frame, a channelshaped lock bar pivotally connected at one end thereof to an upright member of said enclosing frame, said lock bar having a vertical, closed position and an operating horizontal position, said lock bar arranged to swing entirely within the contines of the said frame member when in closed position, said lock bar having downwardly facing operating position and towel bar gripping means milled in said flanges.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said towel bar gripping means include a pair of dual grooves spaced from the unpivoted `end of the lock bar, the said grooves having a depth equal to the depth of the flanges and a width sufficient to grip the said towel bar.

3. In a door securing arrangement for a bathtub enclosure door of the type that pivots about a sliding supporting hanger within a rectangular enclosure frame, the combination of a side master comprising an upright side of the said frame;

a channel-shaped lock bar having one end thereof pivotally joined to the side master,

said lock bar having an effective length equal to one-half the length of said hanger, and said lock bar including door gripping means; and a horizontally disposed towel bar secured to the said door,

said towel bar being gripped by the said lock bar when in secured position; whereby the door hanger contacts the side master when the lock bar grips the towel bar thereby providing a cooperating double, door securing construction.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein the door gripping means include a pair of dual grooves spaced from the unpivoted end of the lock bar, the said grooves having a depth equal to the depth of the flanges of the said channel-shaped lock bar and each having a width suficent to grip the said towel bar.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,431,504 10/1922 Wine 292-95 X 2,929,622 3/1960 Thorson 20-19 X 3,062,2794 1l/l962 Kochanowski 1189-465 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

K. DOWNEY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A DOOR HOLDER FOR A SLIDING AND PIVOTING TYPE BATHTUB ENCLOSURE DOOR INCORPORATING A HORIZONTAL TOWEL BAR AND SLIDING WITHIN AN ENCLOSING FRAME, A CHANNELSHAPED LOCK BAR PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ONE END THEREOF TO AN UPRIGHT MEMBER OF SAID ENCLOSING FRAME, SAID LOCK BAR HAVING A VERTICAL, CLOSED POSITION AND AN OPERATING HORIZONTAL POSITION, SAID LOCK BAR ARRANGED TO SWING ENTIRELY WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE SAID FRAME MEMBER WHEN IN CLOSED POSITION, SAID LOCK BAR HAVING DOWNWARDLY FACING FLANGES WHEN IN THE OPERATING POSITION, SAID LOCK BAR SPACING THE SAID DOOR AWAY FROM THE SAID FRAME WHEN IN OPERATING POSITION AND TOWEL BAR GRIPPING MEANS MILLED IN SAID FLANGES. 